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Granderson Gives the Yankees an All-Star Without Pretension

TAMPA, Fla. — The day he signed his $30.25 million contract extension with Detroit, the new Yankees outfielder Curtis Granderson celebrated with a double cheeseburger from the dollar menu at McDonald’s. Because of its cheap nonstop flights, his favorite airline is Southwest. When a Michigan auto dealership told him two years ago that it would ship down a sporty Corvette for him to use during spring training, he said thanks, but a Malibu would be just fine.

“That sounds just like the Curtis I know,” said Mike Dee, Granderson’s coach at the University of Illinois at Chicago. “I remember going down to his first year in big-league camp and in the parking lot, after seeing Escalade upon Escalade upon Escalade, there was this used Ford Bronco at the end. Guess who that belonged to? You just smile at him because that’s who he is. There’s no flash to him at all.”

Just about everyone who has come into contact with Granderson seems to have a story that makes the same point. Instead of accepting a fee from companies he endorses, like Nike and Louisville Slugger, he asked them to donate equipment to teams across Michigan. His Grand Kids Foundation raises money for educational initiatives. He tries to sign autographs before every game because as a child, he received a letter back from his favorite player, Kirby Puckett.

In many ways, Granderson’s friends and mentors say, he is the ultimate regular guy who hails from a middle-class suburb and graduated from college — he completed his final two semesters during bus rides and down time in the minor leagues — and is humble with his money and remarkably gracious with his time.

When the Yankees acquired him from Detroit in a December trade, Granderson, 28, processed what that meant for him and his new team. In effect, he was replacing Johnny Damon as a left-handed-hitting outfielder with power and speed and would be expected to contribute as much as Damon did as the Yankees attempt to repeat as World Series champions.

But Granderson also started thinking practically, in dollars and cents. He wondered about living and working in one of the most expensive cities in the country.

“All of a sudden, I was like, where am I going to stay and how much am I going to pay?” Granderson said Monday after he reported early to spring training and worked out for two hours.

Photo

Curtis Granderson taking batting practice in Tampa, Fla., on Monday, the first day that Yankees could volunteer to report.Credit
Michael C. Weimar for The New York Times

“I’ve looked at places without furniture for a 12-month lease, so I’m assuming it’ll be even more expensive for a 6-month lease,” he said. “Add utilities and, wow, I’m already at double what I was paying in Detroit the last couple of seasons. I’m not used to this.”

In the off-season, Granderson lives in a house on the edge of the Illinois-Chicago campus, about a half-hour north of where he grew up, in Lynwood, Ill. His parents, Mary and Curtis Sr., are retired public school teachers who emphasized education to their son. Athletes needed a C average to be eligible at Granderson’s high school, and his parents would not let him compete unless he maintained a B.

“When I first met Curtis’s parents, I had to commend them,” said Randy Ready, who managed Granderson at Class A Oneonta in 2002 and is now the San Diego Padres’ hitting coach. “I don’t get a chance to do that very often.”

Celia Bobrowsky, the director of community affairs for Major League Baseball, held the same position with the Tigers during Granderson’s first season, 2004. Her first impression of Granderson was that “the baseball god had arrived for the community of Detroit.”

“On one of his first school visits, he didn’t leave until he spoke with every single kid,” Bobrowsky said. “And I mean every single kid. He got down to their level, spoke eye to eye. They hugged him. He hugged them back.”

Getting traded to the Yankees tugged him from that embrace, from a city that overlooked his flaws as a player — high strikeout totals, struggles against left-handed pitching — and valued his qualities as a person. The Tigers have contended they made the deal as a cost-saving measure — Granderson will make nearly $24 million over the next three seasons — but it has been difficult convincing their fans that there wasn’t some way to retain their most popular player.

“Oh, no, what a mistake,” said Jalen Rose, the former N.B.A. star and a native Detroiter, who played in Granderson’s third annual celebrity basketball game in suburban Detroit last month. “He cared as much about Detroit and the people there as he did about the Tigers.”

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Curtis Granderson, left, with Magglio Ordonez after a Tigers win over the Yankees in 2008.Credit
Rebecca Cook/Reuters

In past off-seasons, Granderson has served as an ambassador for Major League Baseball, traveling to Italy, Britain, China and South Africa, but the trade disrupted his schedule. Now, for instance, he wanted to travel to Arizona for a tutorial with the Yankees’ hitting coach, Kevin Long.

But Granderson still found time to visit schools around Chicago and Detroit this winter, participate at sign-up day at his old Little League, run his celebrity basketball game, and host a rally at his old middle school in support of a referendum to restore such extracurricular activities as the science fair. (As an eighth grader, Granderson earned a spot in the state science fair with an experiment on the reaction of peanuts to light.)

Just last week, he stood beside Michelle Obama at the White House as it unveiled a campaign aimed at reducing obesity among children. Afterward, he spoke with Arne Duncan, the secretary of education, for 10 minutes.

“People ask me all the time how I have time to do this, but I’m single and I don’t have any kids,” Granderson said. “I don’t have the responsibilities of teammates who are married. If I can find even an hour here or there to do something, I still have 23 hours to rest or see my friends and family. You look at it that way, it’s easy to find time.”

Granderson said he wanted to settle in New York before deciding how and when to get involved in the community. One potential initiative involves Rosetta Stone, the language-learning software, which Granderson would like to see used in schools. He also said he expected to play a big role in the Yankees’ Hope Week, which was initiated last season.

“Our arms are open to whatever he wants to do,” said Major League Baseball’s Bobrowsky. “It’s great to have him in the neighborhood.”

Dee, his college coach, has felt the same way. Granderson worked out some mornings this winter with the Illinois-Chicago team, whose players were reminded of their most famous baseball alumnus every time they walked into their facility. There is a photograph of him rounding second base on his way to a triple. Beside it, there is a photograph showing Granderson in his cap and gown. Since Granderson left, Dee said, only one senior has not graduated.

“I don’t think that’s a coincidence,” Dee said. “The message is you can do all those things here because that’s what Curtis did.”

A version of this article appears in print on February 16, 2010, on page B9 of the New York edition with the headline: Granderson an Ordinary Guy With Extraordinary Gifts. Order Reprints|Today's Paper|Subscribe